After just passing the one-year mark of his imprisonment in a Venezuelan jail, returned missionary Joshua Holt fell nine to ten feet in his prison cell and may have a concussion, according to his mother Laurie Holt. The lawyers hired by the family tried to send medics to check on Josh Holt, but prison officials wouldn't allow the medics to see him, according to his mother.
"We pray he's okay," Laurie Holt wrote on Facebook. While trying to climb his three-level bunk bed, Holt fell onto his tail bone, then hit his head on the ground. "Please Heavenly Father watch over him," Laurie Holt wrote.
Many have been fighting for Holt's release, including his family, the Vatican, senators, and the former secretary of state and vice president.
Holt and his new wife, Thamara, were arrested after returning from their honeymoon in Venezuela, under suspicion of being American spies.
While the couple was waiting for Thamara's visa to come through so they could move to the United States, Venezuelan police raided the couple's apartment, allegedly finding a hand grenade and AK-47 assault rifles.
On August 22, Holt's mother, Laurie Moon Holt, posted a letter from her son on Facebook where he describes his "horrible nightmare."
At 6 a.m. on the morning of his arrest, Holt was woken by his new wife to hear "people screaming, babies crying, and the sound of people trying to break into homes." Thamara told Holt that the Venezuelan police were going door to door.
He writes, "We kneel and offer a prayer unto the Lord that he will bless us and protect us. I go to the living room and look out the window and gaze upon hundreds of police officers that where [sic] sworn to protect people as they break into apartments, chase people, and shoot at others."
After being bribed, harassed, mocked, and forced to strip naked and perform exercises before prison guards—an act that violates international agreements on the treatment of prisoners—Joshua Holt's health is failing him, according to his family.
Josh Holt wrote an earlier letter, detailing some of the nightmares he experienced after his arrest and sharing his faith.
"I do rejoice in my God and my Savior. I know that they are watching and listening to every prayer. I don’t know when he will answer my prayers, but I know he will. . . .
"The only thing I can do is beg the Lord to soften the hearts of this people and that of the governments . . . As Elder Holland once said, 'Don’t you quit. You keep walking, you keep trying, there is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon, some come late, some don’t come until heaven, but for those who embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ they come. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.'"